Hunted Love (A Dangerous Kind of Love Book 2) (7 page)

Moose snorted in amusement.

She turned to glare at Brian’s back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Danny.”

“Oh, don’t play dumb with me,” Danny said. “The cat’s out of the bag. Brian told us he had to patch Jamie up at your grandpa’s place.”

“Seriously, Sarah,” Moose added gently laying one of his big thick hands on her shoulder, “if you needed someone’s protection you should’ve come to see Danny or me. Jamie’s no good any more. We would have helped you.”

“Yeah,” Danny said, “and it wouldn’t have taken us months to take care of the problem.”

“That’s right,” Moose said.

“Could’ve taken care of that psycho after your sister just like that,” Danny said snapping his fingers. “What you needed was a real man. Not one that goes running away just because a pretty girl’s got a crush on him.”

Sarah felt her face flush. “I don’t have a crush on him.”
Which was true
, she thought. What she felt for Jamie went far deeper than a crush.

“That’s good to hear,” Danny said. “You don’t want to get involved with him. Did you know—” He snapped his mouth shut as Moose hit him in the arm. “What?”

Moose shook his head sharply in warning.

“No,” Danny said, “I’ve kept my mouth shut long enough.”

Moose’s face darkened. “Kristen said—”

“Kristen said what?” Danny snapped. “We should have warned Sarah about Jamie a long time ago. We didn’t and look what happened. She actually thought she could trust the creep. What if he did to her what he did to Robin? Huh? Could you have lived with yourself?”

Moose started to say something but stopped as Emily walked up to them.

“You seem to be a hot topic around here,” Emily said to Sarah when she got near.

“So it seems,” Sarah muttered under her breath.

Turning back to Sarah, Danny shook his head in disappointment. “We just thought you were being nice to the loser. We didn’t know you were actually developing feelings for him.” He leaned back on the bar. “He’s a murderer, you know.”

“Who is?” Emily asked.

“Jamie Murphy,” Danny said. “He killed Kristen and Phoebe’s middle sister, Robin.” His eyebrows rose up his forehead, stretching his face as he nodded. “That’s right. Jamie used to date Robin. Then one day—” Danny pointed two fingers at Sarah’s head. “—Shot her right in the back of the head. Execution style.”

Emily’s face paled. “No, that can’t be,” she said shaking her head. “Why would Kristen let him stay at her pub if he killed her sister?”

Moose tugged at his ugly striped tie. “She thinks he’s innocent.”

“Maybe he is,” Sarah said.

Danny grimaced. “Don’t be stupid, girl. He’s guilty as sin. The cops found him standing over the body with the murder weapon in his hand. He even threatened to kill the poor girl a few months before he actually did.”

Sarah looked at him sharply. “What?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Danny said with a grin. “Moose and me overheard him threaten her at the hospital. Said he’d like to wring her neck.”

“That’s not much of a threat,” Sarah said. “My sister, Ashton, threatened to wring my neck a few weeks ago.”

“Yeah,” Danny said, “but your sister didn’t really mean it.”

“You weren’t there,” Sarah said with a light snort.

“Well, I was at the hospital and Jamie might have killed Robin right then and there if we hadn’t rushed in and gotten her out of there.”

“Why were they in the hospital?” Sarah asked.

Danny shared a knowing grin with his friend. “Jamie fell down and broke a few bones.”

“Yeah, poor Jamie,” Moose said, “such a klutz, falling down the stairs like that.”

“A couple of times,” Danny said with a snicker.

“Even so,” Sarah said, “that doesn’t mean he was guilty. Sometimes juries convict the wrong man.”

Moose made a face. “He wasn’t convicted. He pled guilty.”

Sarah’s brow furrowed. “No, that can’t be. He wouldn’t have pled guilty.”

Danny pointed a finger at his chest. “Look, sweetheart, I was there.” He jerked a thumb towards Moose. “We both were. He pled guilty. Look it up if you don’t believe me.”

Sarah frowned. She had just assumed Jamie had been convicted. After all, why would he plead guilty if he were innocent?

“What’s the matter, Sarah?” Danny asked. “Did he tell you that he was innocent? And you actually believed him? Geez, I never realized how gullible you are.”

“Why would he plead guilty?” Sarah asked, feeling sick to her stomach. “He was innocent. Why would he do that?”

“Because maybe he wasn’t?” Danny asked sarcastically. “He’s a killer. That’s what he does. That’s all he’s ever done. Someone should have put him out of his misery a long time ago.” His voice deepened to a growl and his eyes flashed in pent up fury. “It’s a disgrace, him walking around here while she’s lying dead in her grave. It’s just not right. If it weren’t for Nathan, I’d—”

“Eh,” Moose said patting his friend on the shoulder, “Jamie’s going to drink himself into an early grave anyway.”

Danny took a deep breath and after a moment, his shoulders relaxed. “Yeah, you’re probably right.” The cruel smile returned. “Actually, I take it all back. It was kind of fun having him around. I think I miss him.”

His friend looked at him as if he was crazy. “What?”

“Come on,” Danny said nudging Moose, “he can be kind of fun to kick around.

“Oh.” Moose shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so. He wasn’t always so easy to push around though. I remember you freaking out when Patrick O’Malley ordered us all to teach Jamie a lesson for messing around with his daughter.”

Sarah felt Emily stiffen next to her. She watched as Emily hesitantly raised her hand. “D-d-did you say Patrick O’Malley?”

“I wasn’t freaking out,” Danny protested, ignoring Emily’s question.

“Sure you were,” Moose said. “You were scared to death. We had to ambush him. It was the only way to bring him down. You wanted to kill him ‘cause you were afraid of what he might do to us when he woke up.”

“Why don’t you just shut up,” Danny said angrily. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I wasn’t scared of him then and I’m not scared of him now. I’m not scared of anyone and I’ve had it up to here with Kristen and Nathan. If Jamie shows up, I’m going to finish him off and I don’t care what Kristen and Nathan thinks about it,” he said turning his back to his friend.

Moose hit him in the back, hard. The big man cleared his throat, gesturing to something behind Danny’s shoulder as Danny spun around and began cursing a blue streak at his friend. “Hey, Kristen,” Moose said loudly over Danny’s head.

Danny stiffened slightly and turned around just as Kristen approached them. He hung his head, muttering a half-hearted apology.

“Dan—” Kristen snapped her mouth shut in surprise as Danny’s face darkened.

“Nathan wanted me to go . . . get something,” he said quickly striding past Kristen and out the living room.

Kristen looked at him with a confused expression on her face.

“Is there something I can do for you, Kristen?” Moose asked.

“Oh, um, yes, please. I need someone to get some more wine out of the cellar. Do you mind?”

“Not at all.”

When he was gone, she turned to Sarah. “I hear you and Jamie had quite the adventure New Year’s Eve.”

Sarah started to shake her head.

“It’s all right,” Kristen said, “you can trust me. Jamie and I are old friends.”

Emily’s mouth dropped open.

“I urgently need to speak to him,” Kristen continued. “If he contacts you, please let me know or have him get in touch with me.”

“Didn’t Brian tell you where he is?”

“He says he doesn’t know.” Kristen looked out the window with a worried look on her face. “I hope Jamie comes back soon.”

“Why do you want him back?” Emily blurted out.

Kristen wrung her hands. “It’s not so much that I want him back, but that I need him back. Desperately.” She looked at Sarah. “If he contacts you, please ask him to come home.”

“I doubt he’s going to contact me,” Sarah said trying to keep the hurt out of her voice. “It seems he wants nothing to do with me.”

Kristen looked at her curiously. “That’s not what Brian says,” she said as she walked away.

Sarah raised her eyebrows.
Just what has Brian been saying
? She started to ask Emily if she had seen which way the good doctor had gone but stopped when she realized Emily was no longer beside her.

CHAPTER SIX

Staring at the red paper cupid hanging over the sink, Sarah absentmindedly washed the dish in her hand, humming along to the Billie Holliday song playing in the living room.

As the song came to an end, she placed another dish into the dishwasher. Wincing, she placed her hands against the middle of her back and stretched before looking at the clock on the stove nearby, wondering how much longer the party would go on. She closed her eyes as a Frank Sinatra song came on next, a part of her wishing she had been invited. Everyone looked like they were having so much fun.

Returning her attention to the sink of dirty dishes, she started to hum softly to herself again when she jerked upright. She glanced down at her white shirt and red waistcoat in surprise as a bright green dot hovered above her breastbone before slowly moving up.

A laser
? She thought as she glanced through the window above the sink expecting to see one of the kids attending the party—cousins of Nathan’s—running around outside.

She frowned at her reflection, watching as the dot slowly moved up towards her chin. She focused her gaze past her reflection to the backyard and the woods.

No teenagers.

No little kids playing with lasers.

In fact, she couldn’t see a soul.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She refocused her attention on her reflection as the dot inched up toward her forehead. Unnerved, she moved to the side, and away from the window. She turned watching the light move along the back wall, slowly inching up toward the security camera facing the back door.

The door to the hallway suddenly burst open, causing her to jump in fright.

“Just me,” Emily said, dropping an empty tray onto the kitchen island.

Sarah glanced back at the wall surprised to see the light was gone. She motioned to the window. “Do you know if any of the kids were playing around with a laser tonight?”

Emily made a face. “Probably. Who knows?” She reached out her hands and grabbed Sarah by the arm, dragging her to the kitchen table.

“Emily, what are you—”

Emily cut her off by pushing her down into one of the chairs and sitting down next to her. “I got the lowdown on your boy and Robin O’Malley.”

Sarah buried her face into her hands. “I don’t think I want to know.”

“No, listen,” Emily said excitedly. “Turns out that Kristen, Robin, and Phoebe’s father was a guy by the name of Patrick O’Malley who—get this—was heavy into the mob. Kristen has spent pretty much the last six or seven years since her father and sister died trying to rehabilitate her family’s image among society. She won’t even let Danny or Moose talk about the old guy and they used to work for him. I had heard about Patrick O’Malley before—my great uncle used to be a reporter and told me all about him—but I had no idea I was working for his daughter. Did you?”

“No, I heard her dad was into some illegal stuff before he died, but I didn’t find out his name until just recently.”

“Oh, well, let me fill you in.”

Sarah glanced through the French doors towards the woods. A shiver coursed up her back as Emily went on about Patrick O’Malley’s various misdeeds in life. She could barely concentrate, her attention so focused on the woods. She was just about to suggest sitting somewhere else when four young boys and a little girl suddenly raced past laughing and chasing one another. Her gaze focused in on one little boy, carrying a toy gun, play shooting at his friends.

She blew out a breath of relief feeling slightly silly.
It was just the kids playing
, she thought, returning her attention back to Emily. “All this mob talk is giving me the creeps.”

“Me too. Patrick O’Malley apparently ruled this area until he was killed in a gangland hit six years ago. He died a few weeks after Robin. No one knows who did it, but people pretty much suspected one of Crazy Charlie Hogan’s thugs who did it out of revenge for O’Malley ordering a hit on their boss. Oh, and guess who’s attending this little soiree tonight.”

“Who?”

“Crazy Charlie’s grandson, the current leader of the pack. Wade Hogan. Moose pointed him out to me. He’s the guy with really piercing blue eyes and short black hair.”

“Is he the one wearing a green silk tie?”

“That’s him. He took over after his grandpa died. Supposedly, he’s out of the business and into real estate but Moose said otherwise.”

“Robin’s dad was murdered a few weeks after she was? Maybe the same guy who killed Robin O’Malley killed her father,” she said still holding onto hope that Jamie hadn’t killed his girlfriend.

“Nope,” Emily said. “Jamie was already in jail for murdering Robin by the time Patrick was killed, so it wasn’t him.”

“Jamie supposedly murdered her.”

“No supposedly about it. Jamie pled guilty, remember?”

Sarah laid her head onto her arms. “Why? Why would he kill someone he loved?”

“Oh, it was a whole sordid tale,” Emily said, her eyes gleaming. “Jamie used to work for Patrick O’Malley as one of his hired guns. He was Patrick’s go to guy until the old man found out he was secretly dating his pride and joy behind his back. He forced Robin to end the affair, and then when she did, Jamie flew into a rage and killed her. It happened at the pub too. Someone heard the shots, called the cops and they found him standing over her dead body with the murder weapon in his hand. Open and shut case.”

“I can’t believe any of that’s true. You said it yourself, why would Kristen allow him anywhere near her if he killed her sister.”

“I don’t know. Maybe she wasn’t that close to Robin. Trust me, it’s all true. I’ve been looking it up on the internet and Danny and Moose filled me in on everything else. Kristen’s grandfather made his fortune running moonshine during prohibition in old sin city, Newport, Kentucky. He graduated to racketeering, murder, gambling, theft, drugs, and a long laundry list of sundry crimes when he hooked up with the Cleveland syndicate. His sons took over in the seventies and later joined the Celtic Club, eventually going to war with their father’s former allies. The O’Malley’s survived the underworld war, only for most of them to be finished off by the FBI in the late eighties. Pretty much everyone died or is sitting in prison. Only Patrick O’Malley survived, but then thirteen years ago, his second in command, who went by the name of Crazy Charlie Hogan, tried to assassinate him. That started another war with everyone taking sides, which your boy took part in. Turns out that Robin wasn’t the only person Jamie killed back then. Jamie was Patrick’s bodyguard so to speak. People were terrified of him. Danny says no one’s afraid of him anymore, but back then they were. The war came to a screeching halt when Crazy Charlie died seven years ago. Everything quieted down, but then six months later, Robin was murdered by Jamie. Then a few weeks later, Patrick O’Malley was murdered. Danny thinks Charlie Hogan’s grandson, Wade, was the one who pulled the trigger. He went to jail soon after Patrick O’Malley was killed. Not for murder though. Got him on some kind of racketeering charge or something or other. He got out last year.”

“Wait a second. Didn’t you say Wade Hogan was here tonight?”

Emily nodded. “Can you believe it? I mean he was never convicted of murdering Patrick O’Malley, but I’d have a hard time inviting him to my house if I suspected he killed my father.”

“Maybe Kristen and Phoebe believe he’s innocent too.”

“Well, whoever it was, they shot Patrick right here in this house a few weeks later.”

“Then what happened?”

“That was it. Jamie went to prison for murdering Robin. Wade Hogan went to prison for racketeering. Most of Patrick’s men drifted to other parts of the country. Kristen and Phoebe inherited all of their father’s money. According to Danny, they are worth millions. Kristen married Nathan, who was one of Patrick’s men, and they decided to go legit. They took care of Phoebe since she was still a kid and everyone who remembered their father was told to keep their mouth shut about the past. Danny said Nathan only keeps him and Moose around just in case someone tries to get revenge for past grievances.” Emily’s eyebrows rose. “I asked him if that’s what New Year’s Eve was really all about? Someone trying to get revenge for past grievances.”

“What did he say?”

“He didn’t say yes, but he didn’t exactly say no either. I’m seriously considering quitting. The tips aren’t that good.”

“That all happened seven years ago. Jamie would have been what? Twenty? Twenty-one?”

“Twenty-one. Same age as Robin. He was old enough to know better. According to Moose, Jamie was a natural born killer.”

Sarah buried her head into her hands. “My sister told me he was a killer, but I didn’t want to believe her. I’m so naïve. I kept hoping it was a mistake or misunderstanding. How did he get out of prison so soon?”

“Danny hinted that some money passed hands. He wouldn’t say who, but someone wanted Jamie back out.”

Sarah dropped her hands from her face. “I can’t believe I fell for him so hard.”

“You wouldn’t be the first girl to fall for a handsome face and nice body.”

“It wasn’t just that. He was sweet, funny, and kind. I could talk to him about anything and he acted as if he cared about what I had to say. He acted like he cared about me.” She gazed down at the table, feeling her eyes well up with tears. “I felt so safe when he was around.”

“I’m sorry, Sarah,” Emily said, patting her friend’s shoulder. “At least he’s gone now.”

“I still don’t believe he killed his girlfriend. I can’t believe it. I know Jamie. He’d never kill someone he loved. If Robin’s own sisters believe he’s innocent, then—”

The buzz of a cell phone cut off the rest of her sentence. She watched as Emily stood up and walked toward the pantry.

Kneeling down, Emily pulled her phone out of her purse. “Must be yours,” she said picking up Sarah’s purse and handing back to her.

Sarah reached into her purse and pulled out her phone. “It’s from my sister,” she said, reading her text messages. “She says her deposition went long and she’s decided to stay in Louisville tonight.”

“How is Madison doing? Is she back from her vacation already?”

“No, she’s still on a beach with her new boyfriend somewhere recovering,” she said, placing air quotes around the word recovering. “The text was from my eldest sister, Ashton. She’s decided to move to Lexington so she can be close to us, and by close to us, I mean have better control over us. She’s not too happy that we didn’t tell her about the danger we were in during the holidays.”

“I don’t think I’ve met Ashton yet.”

“You’ll get your chance tomorrow night. You’re still coming to work out at my gym with me, aren’t you?”

“I’ll be there.”

The door opened and Kristen walked in with a confused look on her face. She looked past Sarah and Emily, her gaze roving around the room.

“Is something wrong, Kristen?” Sarah asked.

Kristen lifted up her hands. “I’ve lost everyone. I don’t suppose either one of you have seen my husband, have you?”

They both shook their head.

“How about Brian?”

“Sorry,” Sarah said, “I was looking for him myself earlier but could never seem to catch him.”

“I can’t find Danny or Moose either. I don’t know where any of them could be,” Kristen said as a worried look came into her eyes. “What about Phoebe? Have either of you seen her?”

Emily stood up and pointed toward the sunroom. “I think she’s out in the stable. I saw her heading that way an hour ago.”

“Of course she is. I should have known she’d be out there,” Kristen said before thanking them for their help and encouraging them to take whatever was left over with them.

Emily, starving college student that she was, immediately reached for a plastic bag and began loading up on food while Kristen walked over to the phone and pressed a button. A few seconds later, she hung up with a disgusted sigh. “The phone in the stable isn’t working again. Sarah, would you do me a favor before you go? Can you ask my sister to come up here? I’m sure she’d want to say goodbye to her guests.”

“Sure, I’d be happy to,” Sarah said standing. She zipped her purse closed and placed it back into the pantry before moving to the French doors.

Kristen opened the door to the wine cellar. “Oh, and Emily, if anyone comes looking for me in the next few minutes, can you tell them I’m downstairs? I want to make a toast before everyone leaves and I have just the bottle for it,” she said before disappearing down the stairs.

Sarah paused at the door. “See you at the gym tomorrow night, Em.”

Emily smiled. “I’ll be there.”

Sarah opened the French doors and stepped outside. A cold breeze hit her and she rubbed her hands over her arms, trying to bring some warmth to them. It had been unseasonably warm for February with highs in the low seventies, but Sarah could feel the cold seeping in since the sun went down and hoped they wouldn’t get a snowstorm like the one that hit them over New Year’s.

She turned to the right, went past the sunroom and down a concrete pathway. Two of the kids she seen earlier ran around the corner surprising her. They ran around her and then over to a fire pit where a group of adults sat chatting with each other. She nodded a hello at the group surrounding the fire pit before continuing down the pathway until it came to a dead end in front of a rusted metal gate.